Versatile gerberas

Gerberas are best known for their brightly colored petals. This quality may be the reason they are the most popularly used blossoms among florists along with carnations and roses, TheFlowerExpert.com reports. Gerberas are in the genus family of sunflowers, daisies and asters, and come in a variety of fabulous hues. Many people refer to gerberas as daisies, though they are technically just in the same family, rather than the same flower.

There are a variety of forms gerberas come in including single flower, double flower, crested doubles and full crested doubles. Single flower gerberas have a row of non-overlapping petals with a green center, and are the most common type. Double flower gerberas have two rows of overlapping petals and can have a green, black or dark red center, or "eye." Crested double varieties contain two rows of overlapping petals, with one or more of the inner rows being shorter than the outer ones. They can have a green black or dark red eye. Full crested doubles have solid overlapping rows of petals and inner rows that get smaller in size, covering the entire center.

Part of the reason gerberas are so commonly used in bought flower bouquets is that they have very long vase lives, the news outlet reports. They are also popular due to their wide range of colors - they can be light to dark yellow, orange, pink, scarlet, deep red and more. Aside from looking great in bouquets or vases, the flowers are also used a lot in landscaping and outdoor gardens as accent buds.